Well, it has been a little while since I put any words down about what has been going on, on the water. I actually took most of July off to relax after a very busy spring and get our hunting leases in Georgia and Kentucky ready for hunting season. I did manage to get out on the water a handful of days though, and the fishing was outstanding if you were looking to just pull on some fish.
The one good thing about summertime fishing is the bait is always easy and always close. All the trips I ran this month left out of Nicks Park in New Port Richey, and because bait is very easy I usually had my clients meet me at 6am so we could get an early start and beat the hottest part of the day. Catching bait was only taking about 30 minutes, but you need to be carful not to overfill your live well with bait, or you will be catching bait again after it all dies.
I tried to time my trips around the high incoming tides so we would have a lot of water and the coolest water of the day. I was able to catch some very nice Trout, some slot sized redfish and even got a few nice snook to eat. But once the sun got up and started heating up the water the bite was over.
I did have a fail-safe though for the summer bite, and it has become very popular with several of my clients, we have a very large population of 4 to 6 foot blacktip sharks in our water during the months of July and August (if only the Scallop hordes knew). Summer is when the Blacktips spawn and the Anclote basin is home to Thousands of these sleek fast fighters. Over the past couple of years I have fine-tuned a couple of areas and on the right tides you can catch them for hours, and Blacktips are a hoot to catch. They are extremely fast and will jump like a Tarpon most of the time, they will also pull drag as fast as a Barracuda, they are without a doubt one the funnest fish we catch in the dog days of summer.
It’s hard to believe how fast this year has gone so far, I can’t believe we are on the doorstep of Fall and all the great fishing that comes with it. But before that I will be in the Redfish capital of the world, Venice Louisiana. My reports for the month of August will be all about our adventures in SE Louisiana catching Giant Redfish and huge Jack Caravel. I always say there is no way to explain how good the fishing is out there, it is World-class and if you love to fish you should defiantly get on my list for the upcoming years. Well I am on the road to Redfish heaven!
Till tomorrow, tight lines
Capt. Greg DeVault
